Diagnostic role of serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor in HCV cirrhotic patients with minimal hepatic encephalopathy with and without schistosomiasis

Liver cirrhosis (LC) advances from an asymptomatic phase (compensated cirrhosis) to a symptomatic phase (decompensated cirrhosis). Up to 80% of patients with LC may experience minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE), which is the first stage of hepatic encephalopathy (HE). Due to the lack of serum indicators, the diagnosis of MHE is frequently based on neuropsychometric tests. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the role of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) as a diagnostic marker for MHE in HCV cirrhotic patients with or without hepatic schistosomiasis. The study consisted of 60 patients with divided into 3 groups (20 patients with HCV-related LC with overt HE, 20 patients with HCV-related LC without overt HE, and 20 patients with HCV-related LC and hepatic schistosomiases co-infection without overt HE) as well as 20 healthy controls. Patients without overt HE were evaluated for MHE by psychometric tests (trail making tests A and B). Serum BDNF was measured in all patients as well as healthy controls. Serum BDNF was found to be significantly lower in patients with LC regardless of etiology than in healthy controls; however, no statistically significant difference was found between patients with and without overt HE. Upon subdivision of patients without overt HE into “normal” and “deficient” using psychometric tests, serum BDNF was found to be significantly lower in patients with overt as well as those with “deficient” psychometric tests (have MHE). Serum BDNF had a sensitivity of 65.85% and specificity of 84.62%, and positive predictive value (PPV) was 82.0%, and negative predictive value (NPV) was 70.0% for diagnosis of MHE. Serum BDNF concentration was found to be significantly lower in patients with deficient psychometric tests having either overt or covert HE which suggests that serum BDNF can be used as a diagnostic marker for MHE.